Scaros: Groupthink Media Tries to Sabotage RFK Jr. Presidential Bid
Donald Trump’s flaws aside (he has them, just like any other human being who ever walked the earth), I voted for him in 2016 and 2020, and if he’s the Republican nominee, I’m going to vote for him again in 2024.
When Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) sufferers wonder how I can vote for someone who wants to “destroy democracy,” I realize that if I try to deprogram their brainwashed minds issue by issue, we could be there for hours.
Instead, I simply begin by saying, “Because the alternative is worse.”
By alternative, I mean any person with a realistic chance to grab the Democratic nomination and face Trump in the general election — whether it be Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, etc.
And if Trump is not the GOP nominee, just about any other Republican with a realistic chance of winning — whether it be Ron DeSantis, Mike Pompeo, Chris Christie, etc. — would get my vote.
“What about Robert Kennedy Jr.?” I’m often asked. “What if he’s the Democratic nominee?”
My answer is still no, but importantly, it’s a no after a long pause. Here’s why: Whether or not I agree with Kennedy’s political ideology, I think he believes in what he says. He doesn’t need a gimmick to gain attention; he’s a Kennedy, for goodness’ sake! And not just a Kennedy, but the son and namesake of the second-most influential member of the vast Kennedy family over the past 60 years.
I think his activism is commendable, if at times misplaced. If forced to replace our current president with another Democrat, Kennedy’s most likely the one I’d choose.
Yet I can’t see myself voting for him. Not because of him personally, but because of the company he keeps: other Democrats.
A President Robert Kennedy would far more often side with Chuck Schumer than with Ted Cruz, with Elizabeth Warren than with Marsha Blackburn. I’ve made that mistake in my life — not realizing that if you support one Democrat, you wind up with the whole kit and caboodle.
Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s examine why Kennedy’s candidacy is great for America.
Much like Trump, Kennedy isn’t afraid to criticize his own party, and Lord knows Democrats need a whole lot of criticism! While he won’t mince words attacking Republicans, Kennedy also won’t hold back against his fellow Democrats.
Not only that, but if Kennedy’s competitive in the primaries and the Democrats use dirty tricks to force him out, there’s a better-than-decent chance he’d run as an independent or on a third-party ticket and siphon enough votes away from the Democratic candidate in the general election to ensure a Republican victory. How’s that for an early Christmas gift?
But many in the establishment media are already aware of this, and they started attacking him as soon as he filed papers to run.
The Hill led with the headline: “Anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. files to run for president as Democrat.” The media’s main feeding line, The Associated Press, wrote, “Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. challenging Biden in 2024.” Surprisingly, The New York Times was less unprofessional, more accurately referring to Kennedy as a “vaccine skeptic.”
The Wall Street Journal’s headline, “Robert Kennedy Jr. Files to Run for President as a Democrat,” was the best of the lot, but, alas, the article itself was tainted from the first two words: “Antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed paperwork Wednesday to run for president.”
I could go on endlessly, but you get the point.
Kennedy was an assistant district attorney in New York, is the author of 10 books, and his environmental activism has extended throughout the world. I don’t necessarily share his perspective on what he calls “environmental justice,” but it’s fair to say that if there’s one big issue with which to associate him, it’s the environment.
Instead, most if not all of the big media outlets are labeling him an “anti-vaxxer” to simultaneously discredit his candidacy as well as the notion of questioning the safety of vaccines in general and the ones developed to combat COVID in particular.
This is not about whether Kennedy is right or wrong about vaccines. Rather, it is an egregious example of journalistic malpractice insofar as the media decides the issue with which to identify Kennedy, and then proceeds to mischaracterize his view.
He’s not against vaccines; he simply doesn’t buy that they’re all completely safe.
The modern-day establishment media knows no bounds. We see how they attack conservatives on a daily basis, and Trump on an hourly basis. But now they’re going after the quintessential liberal Democrat, the champion of fighting large corporations in the name of clean air and clean water. But, wait, he disagrees with them about vaccines. It doesn’t matter that they agree the other 99 percent of the time.
Canceled. That’s wokeness for you.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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